Yonatan and Ilan

Last year Yonatan favoured his headphones and was into his music. This year he's become passionate about football, in particular PSG, the French club Paris Saint-Germain. His Mum asked me to create a birthday card for him showing his allegiance to the club. I also added a blue football, as per her request, and a big red 12 to show his age. Mum told me that the card was a great success!

Ilan was turning 21 and his Mum was looking for a really special gift for him. We discussed the various options in my shop and she decided that a framed picture for his room would be really nice.
Ilan is a keen West Ham United supporter and also a huge follower of our local Modi’in football club, Ironi Modi'in FC. He plays night cricket, and is currently serving in the Israeli army.
The West Ham shirt I could create quite easily. His army badge and a cricket bat too. However, the local football team turned out to be quite a mystery! Neither Ilan's Mum or I could find Modi'in's emblem on anything! In the end Mum found a T-shirt in her son's wardrobe that the supporters had printed. In the interests of accuracy he is a supporter rather than player, so it was decided that the white shirt would represent his favoured team. I think it's about time that Ironi Modi'in FC got themselves a website sorted out or updated their Facebook page though. Their last update was in 2012!
Ilan was delighted with his picture and immediately hung it on the wall of his room. Apparently he loved all the details on it. Mum felt that it made a very special 21st gift. "Many thanks for everything - your talent is amazing" she wrote. I'm blushing!

Calum's Album

Image: Isaac Strang Photographer.

Last month I mentioned our very quick trip back to England. In all the years we have lived in Israel - and it's over 20 now - we've never made such a short trip. Our nephew was celebrating his Bar Mitzvah but it was still school time and there were exams to do as well. There was no alternative. A weekend in London it was!

Obviously I packed an album in to my suitcase for the Bar Mitzvah boy. Red-haired Calum enjoys playing tennis, is into football (of course he is - nearly everyone on my husband's side of the family supports Arsenal!) and is a keen reader. He is a techie too. He has an iPad, is a YouTube fan, and also likes playing FIFA on his PS3.

I have shown Calum with his iPod and a book tucked under one arm, and a tennis racket in the other. To one side of him you can see his PS3, his school's badge, a football, and a small pile of books. On the other side is the Arsenal crest, and a plate full of his speciality chocolate chip meringues. Apparently he is a good baker.

I decorated several pages inside the album as well. The opening page shows his school's badge, some pencils and books (top). Next I added a football and the Arsenal crest. Calum enjoys watching The Simpsons (just like his cousins here in Israel), so Bart featured on one of the pages. More chocolate chip meringues followed, as well as the YouTube logo, the FIFA15 game cover and a teeny tiny PS3 controller. My youngest son was very impressed with that!

I added a tallit (the Jewish prayer shawl) to each page in shades of blue and purple - just like the one Calum wore in the synagogue for his Bar Mitzvah ceremony - and featured them on the cover too. Finally I added the date of his Bar Mitzvah, Calum's name and the words 'Bar Mitzvah' in Hebrew. According to his mum, my sister-in-law, there was a "vague green theme going on" at the party (it was actually so much more than that!), so the background on all the decorated pages became a nice forest green.

We had a lovely time in London. Even though we were only there for a few days, we squeezed a lot in! We watched proudly as our nephew performed his Bar Mitzvah in the synagogue, and partied with him on the Sunday evening. We fitted in some shopping, and went on a really interesting London Walks guided walk of Old Hampstead Village. The kids went zip wiring, leaping and swinging at Go Ape, and we all thoroughly enjoyed an unforgettable production of The War Horse at the New London Theatre on Drury Lane, in the heart of London's "Theatreland".

Not bad for a three day visit!

International Exhibition of Contemporary Paper Art

I was really very excited to read about the International Exhibition of Contemporary Paper Art at the Old Jaffa Museum. I like that particular museum a lot, having visited several times previously, most recently last summer for the Dolls Art exhibition. The museum is located in the "Ancient Saraya", an old governmental Ottoman house, and is relatively small but quite lovely! Of course I was going to visit again for the paper exhibition.

The Contemporary Paper Art exhibition is advertised as the first of its kind in Israel. The exhibition brings together 30 world-renowned paper masters, displaying "crumpled" works by the French artist Vincent Floderer, as well as creations by the artist and mathematician Martin L. Demaine and his son, Professor Erik Demaine. In addition, Dr. Robert Lang, one of the developers of car airbags, displays works of art created by hundreds of folds of paper. I was particularly enamoured with his Poison Dart Frog, below. The exhibition, curated by artist Paul Jackson, also hosts the German artist Heinz Strobl and his works made from folded strips of paper hundreds of metres long, as well as other leading and respected artists from Japan, Europe, the USA and Israel.

The exhibition showcases the unlimited possibilities of paper art in the most wonderful way. "Paper is all around us", the curator's introduction read, "but we don't look at it. We touch it, but we don't feel it. It is our ever-present servant, essential but invisible, humble but dignified... It is all-but excluded from the list of respected artists' materials, such as stone clay, metal and wood." But that's how it used to be. A growing number of artists have adopted paper as their primary material and have begun to create vibrant folded, cut and crumpled work that is finding an enthusiastic public. Myself amongst them.

There were so many pieces that I fell in love with at the exhibition. Melina Hermsen's "Tessellations" just blew me away. Melina, from Germany, is one of an exciting new generation of tessellation artists who take the traditional pattern-making techniques and add a creative flair. My absolute favourite piece was the lion cub, below, which I would more than happily hang on my wall at home.

Anne Rudanovski's huge pleated disk created from one sheet of paper, above, was initially part of a larger installation of many disks. This piece will disassemble and fold into a small box, rather like the closing of an umbrella.

The modular origami lamps of Tomoko Fuse from Japan, below, are created from one sheet of folded, uncut paper. She is considered by many as a renowned master in origami.

There were papercuts too. Noa Yekutieli's "Behind the Human" hand cut papercut is based on an ongoing series of pieces titled "Summer 2014" which are based on ruins from "Operation Protective Edge" and deal with the physical and human emotional destruction that are a result of the ongoing conflict in Israel. One side of the piece shows the destruction and the shared reality of the individuals that are sometimes forgotten behind this catastrophe. The second side reveals a subjective personal moment. The cut out paper from the side depicting the destruction pile up as ruins and symbolises how time will blind the human ability to remember. It does not tell a story of a person, a party, a side, or a house, but is a metaphor of a universal distress resulting from war and conflict.

Each visitor to the exhibition receives a small sheet of origami paper with the entrance ticket. A large screen within the exhibition area demonstrates the art of origami with detailed instructions, allowing visitors to have a go at the art form. My son made a delightful swan, with a little help from Mum.
The exhibition's curator Paul Jackson has been a professional artist since 1982. His paper folding sculptures are displayed in museums and galleries around the world. He has published over thirty books on paper art, and created many commercial projects. Nowadays he teaches at the Shenkar School of Engineering and Design, one of the leading colleges in Israel.

Green and White

With the launch of the International BDS movements (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) against Israeli businesses and companies, many pro-Israel organisations have taken action by encouraging people to "buy blue and white", or products "made in Israel." The Israeli flag is made up of two solid horizontal blue stripes with a blue, six-pointed Star of David between them on a white background, hence the "blue and white". The flag was designed for the Zionist Movement in the late 1800's, and is based on the tallit, the striped prayer shawl worn by Jews at morning prayers.

Mister Handmade in Israel recently celebrated a birthday and, without realising it, everything I created for his big day was blue green and white (sorry for the rather, ahem, tenuous connection). He doesn't seem to be getting bored of my papercut cards quite yet, so another one was created for his big day. My hand drawn and hand cut birthday card with star and bunting details has his age, 51, on it. If any of you would like to order a similar card I can happily change the number to whichever age you require.

Of course with birthdays comes cake, and for some reason I made it green and white too. I think it was the football boots. They made me think of grass.

Something to Treasure

Anna and Udi got married quite some months ago but even after their special event my customer wanted a wedding card for them - something that they could treasure - just as she had ordered for the groom's brother. My customer sent me a beautiful photograph of the couple taken on their wedding day in the scenic location of Yemin Moshe. I copied the bride's delicate dress as closely as possible and crafted a dark suit similar to the one the groom wore. In the background I added colours which reflect the Jerusalem stone buildings, blue skies and pink bougainvillea seen in abundance in Yemin Moshe.

My lovely customer and friend wrote "It's wonderful! They're going to love it! Thank you for another great creation!"

Rebecca was turning 16.  Apparently she is going to be starting a course to become a make-up artist, so it was decided that make-up should be the theme of her birthday card.  I created a card on that theme for her last year, so this year I made the focus more about applying make-up, and less about the products. I added some purple lipstick and nail polish for good measure!

The same customer wanted a card for another niece, Sophie. She was soon to be celebrating her 18th birthday and my customer wanted a card similar to the one I did for Sophie's cousin, Emily. She specifically asked for the number 18 to be in the middle of the card with the words חי – Chai in Hebrew and in English next it. I'll explain the relevance of it again. Chai, which is pronounced as if you were saying "hi" in English, is a Hebrew word and symbol that means "life." It is spelt with the Hebrew letters Het (ח) and Yud (י). According to the gematria, which is a mystical tradition that assigns a numerological value to Hebrew letters, the letters Het (ח) and Yud (י) add up to the number 18. The Het has a value of 8 and the yud has a value of 10. As a result, 18 is a popular number that represents good luck. At weddings, bar mitzvahs and other events Jewish people often give gifts of money in multiples of 18, symbolically giving the recipient the gift of "life" or luck.
Along with wishing her niece "Chai", good luck, my customer also wanted me to include many of her interests on the card. These include Disneyland Paris, where Sophie was going for her birthday celebration, baking utensils and cupcakes with "Sophie's Sweet Treats" written next to it (apparently she is a keen baker), a silver can of Diet Coke, the high-fashion retailer Topshop, Brent Cross Shopping Centre, and a laptop with the Internet video streaming service Netflix open on the screen.
There was a lot to fit in but I managed it.

(Not) Blowing in the Wind

Those of you who know me personally, or who have read my blog for some time, already know that I am a big fan of Israel ScaVentures. I have participated in their scavenger hunts in the Old City of Jerusalem, Nachlaot and Gush Etzion and so, when Tali Kaplinski Tarlow, the driving force behind Israel ScaVentures, invited me to the 4th Annual Bloggers Scavenger Hunt, to do the Windmill Dash in Jerusalem's Mishkenot Sha'ananim and Yemin Moshe neighbourhoods, I practically ran there!

Mishkenot Sha’ananim, which means "Peaceful Habitation", was the first Jewish neighbourhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, on a hill directly across from Mount Zion. Until the middle of the 19th century, the people of Jerusalem lived inside the Old City walls. Being outside the city walls was considered very dangerous due to Bedouin raids, pillage and general banditry rampant in the region at the time. Consequently the Old City became overcrowded. Such crowded conditions were hazardous for everyone's health and disease spread quickly. It was clear that the only solution for the city's natural growth was to build new neighbourhoods outside the city walls.

Moses Montifiore, a British Jewish banker and philanthropist, decided to help the Jewish community by buying land outside the city walls, overlooking the Old City. In 1860 Montifiore built the first settlement. He named the neighbourhood Mishkenot Sha'ananim, taken from the Book of Isaiah 32:18: "My people will abide in peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places."

Mishkenot Sha'ananim is one long building that was divided into separate apartments. Poor Torah Scholars (an honorific title given to one well versed in Jewish law) and their families quickly populated the neighbourhood, but in the beginning they were frightened to sleep outside the Old City walls, and they would return to their original homes to sleep at night. As an incentive, people were paid to live there, and a stone wall was built around the compound with a heavy door that was locked at night.

In addition to taking care of the living conditions of the Jewish community, Montifiore also wanted to find a way for Jews to support themselves. In 1857 he built a windmill near the neighbourhood of Mishkenot Sha'ananim. The idea was to create work opportunities for the Jewish community in Jerusalem. At the outset, British millers operated the windmill, and later on it was leased to Jews.
At the time it was built the windmill was considered to be an ultramodern work tool for grinding grain into flour. It is not clear if the windmill ever really worked, or if it really created the job opportunities hoped for. It seems that Montifiore did not take into account the lack of wind in Jerusalem, nor the quality of the wheat in the region. During the War of Independence the windmill served as a watchtower for Jewish fighters.

When Montifiore was 90 years old he decided to retire as head of the charitable fund that helped the Jews of Jerusalem. The remaining members of the fund created a new fund called, "Keren Mazkeret Moshe". The fund was dedicated to helping the Jews in the new neighbourhoods and to build other neighbourhoods outside the Old City walls.

Next to the Mishkenot Sha'ananim there was an additional piece of land that was unsettled and the building of another neighbourhood, Yemin Moshe, was completed there in 1893, around thirty years after Mishkenot Sha'ananim was first settled. Yemin Moshe, named after Moses Montifiore, was considered a very modern neighbourhood. Most of the Rabbis living there were Ultra Orthodox but they were considered moderate in their outlook. People lived a life of Torah but also combined it with making a living. As the years went by the neighbourhood houses were bought by the people and became their own property.

Arab attacks, however, were still frequent and in time people slowly started to leave the neighbourhood in search of a safer place to live. By 1948, the War of Independence, the last citizens left Yemin Moshe, though it was a great place for the Israeli Army to stay. The army destroyed many of the houses so that they could manoeuvre their troops easily. Yemin Moshe became a battlefield, and the Israeli army lost some of its best fighters there.

After the War of Independence a lot of Jews from Turkey came to live in Israel. The Israeli Government offered them the abandoned houses in Yemin Moshe. The Jewish community in Turkey sent money to rebuild the houses and the neighbourhood.

Life in Yemin Moshe could be dangerous at times, since the Old City had been captured by the Arab Legion and the Old City walls became the border between Jordan and Israel. Jordanian soldiers would sit on the Old City walls and shoot at the residents of Yemin Moshe. Once again people chose to leave because they did not want to live so close to the border. Only the poorest inhabitants remained, turning the complex into a slum.

After the 1967 Six Day War and the reunification of Jerusalem, the city decided to rebuild Yemin Moshe and make it into an artist colony, though today the current popularity of the area has driven prices up to the point where only one art studio remains. Mishkenot Sha'ananim was turned into an upscale guesthouse for internationally acclaimed authors, artists and musicians visiting Israel. As well as the guesthouse facilities it is also a convention centre and home of the Jerusalem Music Centre.

The Jerusalem stone buildings, gardens and stunning views of the Old City make Mishkenot Sha'ananim and Yemin Moshe the perfect destination for an outing, and of course for an Israel ScaVentures scavenger hunt. Divided in to teams, maps, mission packs and source sheets in hand, our job was to solve the various tasks and clues set for us, and to discover more about Mishkenot Sha'ananim and Yemin Moshe and its people. We found most of the answers in the streets, buildings, and signs all around us and, once again, I learnt so much about an area I thought quite familiar to me. Of course it was great fun being part of a noisy and energetic team too! To round off the whole event we were provided with sweet treats courtesy of the Almond Bakery Cafe, whilst Tali summarised the morning's activities. Yummy!

Israel ScaVentures also have Scavenger Hunts in Safed and the Jerusalem Shuk. I look forward to trying one of them out soon!

Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary!

It's been a busy few weeks in the Handmade in Israel home. Back in May I celebrated my 45th birthday. As I get older, less and less fuss seems to be made about my big day (a shame because I quite enjoy the fuss!) but my sisters-in-law came up trumps this year and sent me a fabulous necklace from Zincwhite. Made using recycled Derwent colouring pencils and combined together to make blocks that are cut and shaped by hand, the beautiful round pendant they ordered for me is a unique and individual piece and I am really enjoying wearing it.

A few days after my birthday we observed the festival of Shavuot and I made, as I do every year, delicious cheesecake. Then at the beginning of June Mister Handmade in Israel and I marked our 17th wedding anniversary, which sadly fell on the same day as the Yahrzheit (a Yiddish word meaning "time of year") for my dear Mum, marking the 10th anniversary of her passing according to the Hebrew calendar. It is a Jewish custom to light a 24-hour candle at dark on the evening before the anniversary. It is believed that the candle represents the soul of the departed which is never extinguished in our hearts and therefore the flame of the candle reminds us of the soul of our loved one. A few days later all four of us flew to England for a long weekend to celebrate our nephew's Bar Mitzvah. I will show you the album I made for him in another post.

I told you it has been a busy few weeks.

Mister Handmade in Israel likes my papercuts. I think he likes them even more than my cut paper pieces, but that's a discussion for another time! For our anniversary this year I made him this card, cutting the message and love heart detail by hand from white stock. I then lined it with a bright red paper inlay because everything I make for Mister Handmade in Israel has to be in red, the colours of his favourite football team.

I think he was impressed.